


Bedtime in Burbank

by charcolor



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, everything before chapter 6 is rated G, i changed the rating due to some discussion of kinda heavy subjects.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charcolor/pseuds/charcolor
Summary: When the Warners are asleep in the water tower, away from cameras and scripts and directors, there's no need to put on a show and make an audience laugh. They can let themselves be a little vulnerable sometimes.(ongoing collection of warner sibling hurt/comfort stories.)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 217





	1. A Very Special Sister

**Author's Note:**

> i'm so sorry this has so suddenly shifted from a vocaloid drama fanfiction account to an animaniacs hurt/comfort oneshot account. i like fambily :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot's special, and she really likes being special. She doesn't ever want to stop being special.
> 
> (characters: dot, wakko  
> warning for some references to misogyny)

Dot was special, and she liked that.

The Warner Sister--there was only one of those in the whole wide world. She wasn't just a girl, she was a girl that was allowed to be as silly and childish as her brothers. Cartoons didn't always let girls do that. She liked being a girl, she liked being Dot Warner.

Sometimes people didn't like that. Grow up a little, stop being such a whiny feminist, stop being so vain and immature, stop pandering to little girls by liking cute things, but those people still couldn't stop her from being here and being happy. 

But slowly, she had to learn to suppress some things, out of spite. 

Dot was special. She didn't ever feel sad or lonely, she didn't ever genuinely cry, she didn't ever need her brothers to help her feel safe. She wasn't supposed to be a weak little girl. If she was, she wouldn't be special.

How long would it take for her to stop liking cute things, for her to stop talking about dreamy boys, for her to stop loving herself enough to _be_ herself? She wouldn't know that. As long as it took for people to hate her for that, she supposed.

Dot was special, so she never had nightmares where people hated everything about her. After all, what was there to be afraid of? Lots of people loved Dot, because she was so special, and she always would be.

She never had nightmares where people forgot about her. She was unforgettable, because she was so special.

But no one was watching her tonight, when gloved hands gently rattled her awake.

 _You're not needed anymore. Girls like you aren't needed anymore._ Whoever it was, they still spoke over her surroundings, and she couldn't see anything but a blur of dark colors.

A wet blur, a stinging blur--she rubbed her eyes quickly, and it was easier to see Wakko and his red cap looking over her.

Before trying to start to understand what was going on, she had to ask, quietly so the tremor in her voice wasn't so strong: "Is anyone watching?"

"No." Wakko reached to hold one of Dot's hands. "Were you having nightmares?"

"I dunno." Her voice was a little louder, but not too much, only because Yakko was still probably sleeping down in his bunk. She had the top bunk tonight, so if she'd been thrashing around in her bed, Wakko would be the first to notice. 

That was fine. It was pathetic enough that she had to seek comfort in one brother without having to wake the other.

"What were ya dreamin' about?" Wakko asked.

_If you were really such a strong woman, you wouldn't need anyone to save you. You wouldn't care so much about your family. Aren't you better off without them? The more alone you are, the stronger you are, the better you are, the more special you are. Isn't that what you wanted?_

Dot quickly inhaled cold air through her teeth and averted her eyes. "Mean people. Saying a lot of mean things."

"I can kill 'em for ya."

That made Dot giggle a little, and a smile came and went.

_You're supposed to be the one making jokes. How's anyone going to remember you if you're a weak little girl with no sense of humor?_

Wakko scratched his neck with his free hand. "You don't usually talk in your sleep, so..."

Oh, no.

"What did I say in my sleep...?"

"Uh, I didn't hear all of it, but it was something like..." He spoke a little higher, but still quiet enough not to wake Yakko. _"Let me go, stop yelling at me..._ that sorta thing."

That helped jostle a memory. Someone grabbed her, someone had grabbed her by the arms and carried her toward the darkness, "it's time to go, you're not needed anymore," and she would cry why not, what did I do wrong, "girls like you aren't needed anymore."

...didn't Yakko mention worrying about something like that, too?

"Oh, don't sweat it. No one's gonna ever forget Animaniacs, and no one's gonna ever forget you!" Wakko poked her nose. "You're the Warner sister! Everyone loves you! Remember our movie? Everything we did in the movie was for you, and everyone really wanted to see you get better and get happy.'

"I'm supposed to be a strong female character, though."

A short silence.

"Character?"

Dot rolled her eyes a little. "Yeah, a character. That's what we are, Wakko. Cartoon characters."

"Can't you still be a person?"

"Regular people get forgotten. Normal girls get forgotten, weak little girls get forgotten and nobody wants 'em anymore."

"I dunno..." Wakko squeezed her hand. _"I_ like helping you."

"Then people'll forget you too, Wakko."

"Who cares? _You_ won't forget me, will ya?"

"So what if I don't?"

Of course, Wakko didn't know the answer to that. Even if he did, Dot would probably have a hard time really believing it.

"You're better than me at talking and knowing things," Wakko said. "That's why you always got more letters. You know, back when people wrote letters?"

"That was then, this is now." Dot lifted her hand to the flower tie around her ears, and poked at one of its petals. She still wore these, even after twenty-five years or so. She just didn't look right without it. "Girls who wear flowers aren't special. Girls who wear dresses aren't special--"

"Says who?" Wakko let go of Dot's hand to roll up his sweater sleeves. "I'll show 'em _special!"_

"Well--well, no one _said_ it, but...that's how it is. People used to use girls to be special, now girls gotta be more than that. They gotta be strong and smart and funny, and I'm all those things, that's why I was special, but now I don't...I have to be better than them, which means I can't ever let boys see me cry and make me feel better, 'cause that's regressive."

Wakko let his tongue hang out for a moment. "I don't get it."

"Of _course_ you wouldn't get it, Wakko! _"_ Being able to narrow her eyes at him and speak through a hint of indignance felt nice. Maybe she wasn't so helpless. "You can only fit so much in your _five_ brain cells!"

"Hey!" Wakko puffed up his cheeks. "I may only have five brain cells, but I can still use 'em to be nice to my baby sister!" He reached to scratch the fur around Dot's ears. "No one's watching us on TV right now, you can cry if you really want to. If anyone finds out and says you're weak, you can beat 'em up."

That was true. If anyone besides her brothers knew of her insecurities and called her weak for it, she could very, very easily prove them wrong.

"I guess," Dot figured, "cute little girls can be special if they also have mallets and maces."

"That's the spirit!" Wakko patted her head. "Wanna go have some ice cream? It helps get rid of nightmares."

"Really?"

"...I dunno. Maybe."

"Well..." Dot giggled and sat upright. "Only one way to find out!"

* * *

Dot was sound asleep again. Luckily, Yakko was still asleep as well, and he hadn't been woken up by Dot and Wakko's chatting. 

Wakko knew how protective Yakko could be, even if the latter didn't always like admitting it. If he'd been woken up, it would take forever for him to go back to sleep. Not only that, but if he wasn't well rested, he would refuse to do anything about it.

That was why Wakko had to very cautiously climb up the ladder to Dot's bunk. He really couldn't risk waking anyone up. It seemed Dot was very deep in sleep now, though. She snored quietly, lying still and relaxed in her bed.

Even so, Wakko curled up at the foot of her bed. If any more nightmares were going to bother his baby sister, he would teach them a thing or two about messing with the Warners.


	2. Clown Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko's afraid of the clowns in the water tower.
> 
> (characters: wakko, yakko, dot)

_They're coming._

He could only think of that as he tried listening past his little rapid heartbeat for anything that might be coming up behind him. He could've sworn he saw flashes of a menacing grin looming over him, but they hid in the corners of the darkness.

The door was locked, but maybe--no, _definitely,_ they were already here. Somewhere, somewhere, wrinkly, gloved hands were waiting to grab him by the arms and clamp his mouth shut so no one could hear him scream, so he could--suffocate? So they could kidnap him?

What did they _want?_

His mallet, his mallet, where was his mallet? It wasn't with him, where'd he leave it? Had they taken it? Had they already taken it?

There was something else he could use. He just had to get to the kitchen without getting caught. He couldn't be cowardly. He was in danger--his siblings were in danger, too. If anything touched them, caught them, took them...

They didn't have many knives, but he found a nice sharp one on the counter.

"Hey--"

No time to think about it, no time to listen. He spun toward the sudden sound, brandishing his knife. He wanted to yell to go away, stay away, but he couldn't speak, he couldn't even breathe, and now he couldn't see. Everything whirled and distorted around him, anything could grab him now.

"Wakko?"

That--that was his little sister's voice. She sounded so scared. Was it real? Or were they just imitating it to lure him into danger?

"Wakko...put the knife down...okay? Please?"

 _How do I know you're not an impostor?_ He wanted to ask, but he had no voice anymore.

"It's me, it's Dot, I promise, I'm not gonna...I'm not touching you or hurting you."

Ultimately, it didn't matter whether or not this was a trick. Wakko couldn't bring himself to hurt his siblings that way. He let the knife fall, and he dropped to the floor, hiding his hands in his sweater sleeves and tightly shutting his eyes.

Soft steps approached him, and he could hear his heart beat even faster.

"Can I hug you?"

Wakko had no way out anymore. He nodded, hoping that it really was Dot wrapping her arms around him and speaking, her voice still trembling a little but staying soft and pleasant. 

"Everything's fine, okay? No one else is here 'sides me and Yakko. It's nighttime, and we're in the water tower, so no one else is watching, we're not on TV right now."

Wakko opened his eyes. It was blurry, but he could look a little to his right. It really was Dot hugging him.

"Can you talk?" Dot asked.

Wakko wasn't very confident, but he tried to speak. "I...I dunno what's going on..."

Dot looked up at something. Wakko then noticed Yakko kneeling on the floor not too far away, watching him with wide eyes. He hadn't said anything up until now, when he reached toward one of Wakko's hands. "Seems like a panic attack to me. Can you breathe okay, buddy?"

"I think so..." He was certainly able to speak now, even though it felt very fragile. "I thought I saw...I saw clowns."

Dot kept her arms around him. "You have a nightmare?"

Wakko wasn't sure, but he nodded anyway.

"Probably a really bad one if it made ya wanna run around with a knife." Yakko pulled himself closer, and let Wakko grab his hand. "You wanna talk it out?"

Talking wasn't very easy for Wakko, especially at times like this, but he knew talking things out always helped Yakko and Dot, so he could at least try.

"I don't remember if I had a nightmare," Wakko admitted. "I don't remember waking up. I just saw clowns, I _thought_ I saw clowns, and they were gonna hurt me or hurt one of you or all of us."

"Well, you know clowns are banned from the water tower." Yakko patted his head. "But, uh, honestly, it's probably better for the clowns if they don't come in anyway."

Dot nodded. "Yeah, you know the drill, right? Torture the clown until he leaves, then maybe keep torturing him after that. Like we did with, uh...what was it, Pennywise?"

"No, that's copyrighted," Yakko reminded her. "It was Nickelwise."

"Oh, yeah, different coin."

Wakko didn't like Nickelwise, but it wasn't quite as bad filming that episode. Everyone on set made sure Wakko was okay with being on the same set as a clown, and it also helped that Nickelwise didn't look or act like a typical clown, either. He was at least able to keep his phobia manageable while filming that episode.

Still, maybe that was why he'd been feeling a little more paranoid lately. He could only handle so much clown time before caving in to his panic.

"Well, no need to worry, baby bro." Yakko scritched the back of Wakko's neck. "This is a no-clown zone. You're safe here, okay?"

Wakko nodded, his gaze fallen to the floor. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Nothin' to be sorry for!" Yakko tilted his chin up. "You need anything? Like milk or water or something?"

Warm milk sounded nice. Wakko nodded. "Can I have milk?"

"Uh-huh." They already were in the kitchen, so Yakko didn't have to go very far to open the fridge and grab a carton of milk. Meanwhile, Dot returned to hugging Wakko.

"That sounds really scary," she said. "Are you gonna be able to sleep okay?"

"I dunno. Probably." Wakko sighed. "I feel like a baby."

"Nah, don't say that!" Yakko threw the fridge door closed. "T.P. was scared of clowns too, you know. Is? What happened to him, is he dead?"

Dot shrugged. "Probably retired or something. I don't think they'd kill him off."

"Well, whatever, he's way older than any of us and he's scared of clowns." Yakko gave Wakko's head another pat. "So don't sweat it. Here's your milk, buddy."

He handed Wakko a glass. The milk was somehow warm, even though he didn't hear the microwave being used for anything. No use questioning it, it still tasted good.

"Thank you."

"No prob."

Dot let go of Wakko, but stayed sitting beside him. "Also, we clown-proofed this place the other day. No clown's gonna wanna come within ten feet of the water tower. So you're real safe in here, okay?"

"Okay." Wakko drank the milk in one gulp, and stood to drop the empty glass into the sink. "Thanks for helping me. I love you guys."

"Love you too, Wakko."

"Love you too!"

Each of Wakko's siblings held one of his hands as they walked back to the bunk bed together. It was silly to think he was ever in any danger when he had his sibs with him, because the Warners were unstoppable together, but Wakko was supposed to be the silliest one, after all. Maybe these really awful nightmares and panic attacks just came with the territory.

Thankfully, he was sleeping on the middle bunk tonight, sandwiched between his brother and sister. They said they would be able to drive away any surprise clowns, and Wakko trusted them.

The rest of the night remained peaceful and free of any more scary dreams or thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh great. another wakko's knife episode


	3. You're Unique and You're Terrific!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko realizes that he might be a little different, maybe not in a very good way.
> 
> (characters: wakko, yakko)
> 
> (warning for brief discussion of transphobia + themes of internalized ableism)

Realistically, Wakko wasn't very important.

He was only around so that there could be two Warner Brothers. The cartoonists wanted three, but Dot refused to be treated like a boy.

They'd call the three of them "the Warner Brothers," and Dot would chime in with "and the Warner Sister," and sometimes, a long time ago, people would say "this one's supposed to be a boy, there's supposed to be three boys, you're a Warner Brother too."

Dot would say something like, "Can't somebody be a Warner Sister? Can't I just be a girl?"

And she hadn't told Yakko or Wakko anything about wanting to be a girl, but they both caught on, saying things like "you heard her, she's the Warner Sister!" and "don't talk to our baby sister like that!" And that got solved pretty quickly. Dot wasn't a Warner Brother, but there were two Warner Brothers, so Yakko and Wakko could keep calling themselves that.

If it weren't for Wakko, it'd just be "the Warner Brother and Sister," and that didn't sound right. What was the point of the studio being called Warner Brothers if there was only one brother?

So that was Wakko's purpose. He was there to complement Yakko, and nothing more.

Yakko and Dot were better than him in every way. They were better at talking, joking, singing, knowing things, playing off each other...a lot of times, Wakko couldn't even speak at all. It was pretty pathetic for someone like him to have a problem like that.

Apparently, it was called "losing speech," when Wakko just couldn't talk sometimes. Yakko had told him that, of course. Yakko was the smart one, Wakko was the dumb one. That wasn't a problem, really, but it didn't help the fact that Wakko wasn't memorable at all.

And Wakko recently realized he wasn't a boy the same way Yakko was. He wasn't a girl, and he wasn't _not_ a boy, but there was something unaligned about his identity. Apparently, that was called "non-binary," and there were many more genders Wakko could pick and choose to label himself with if he wanted. Of course, Dot had told him that. She was the smart one, too.

Wakko couldn't sleep trying to think about what it meant. He was probably autistic, or something like it, and he was probably non-binary, but still a boy, too. That was good. He was supposed to be a boy, there had to be multiple Warner Brothers. But why would he be autistic? Yakko and Dot weren't autistic, so he wasn't supposed to be autistic either, was he?

He was a little reluctant to be a burden, but he climbed down the ladder and crawled onto Yakko's bunk, then gently shook him until he stirred.

"Mmh...?" Yakko rubbed his eyes. "What's up, Wakko...?"

"I can't sleep."

"Oh...there's some melatonin or something in the bathroom, prob'ly..."

"Yakko, I think there's something wrong with me."

"There's something wrong with all of us, Wakko, it's..." Yakko flinched and blinked his eyes open a little wider. "Are you being serious? Is this on TV?"

"Don't think so, why?"

Yakko stretched his arms out and yawned, then threw one around Wakko and pulled him closer. "Alright, what's goin' on? You sick?"

"No...well, I dunno. Maybe in the head."

"Mm." Yakko lightly patted his back. "Why's that?"

"Do you think I'm autistic?"

"Eh, probably." Yakko shrugged. "Don't see why you wouldn't be. Me and Dot are autistic."

"Huh?" Wakko crossed his arms. "That's not funny. I'm being serious."

"So am I." Yakko tightened his arm around him. "Is that it? You think that's the something wrong with you?"

"Well...!" Wakko fidgeted with his hands. "I'm not like you! You and Dot can always talk and be funny like you're supposed to, but sometimes I can't talk, and I eat weird things sometimes and you don't do that, and sometimes...sometimes I don't know what anyone's talking about at all..."

"Hey, hey, listen." Yakko smiled and scritched the back of Wakko's neck. "Do you always talk so much about stuff nobody else cares about and it annoys them, but it's just stuff you love learning and talking about?"

"No..."

"Well, that's 'cause we got different flavors of autism, buddy." Yakko tilted Wakko's chin up. "I'm a...can't shut up about trivia, can't shut up in general, really likes doing a lot of pointless research, not really good with empathy flavored autistic. Dot's an oversensitive to certain smells and sights and textures, really over-reliant on her own social rules, also not really good with empathy autistic. You've got your own flavor, too, Wakko."

Wakko wasn't sure he wanted to know what he tasted like.

"We don't need to overanalyze you right now, though." Yakko patted Wakko's head. "I'm just sayin' that autism's neat and it's not anything wrong with the head. It's different from me and Dot, but it's not good or bad, it's just you, Wakko."

But was that really good enough, to just be Wakko?

"What if I wasn't a boy?"

"Huh?" Yakko tilted his head. "You're still thinkin' you might be non-binary?"

"Well, maybe I'm still a boy, kinda, almost." Wakko hunched up his shoulders. "But...what if I change my mind? We're supposed to be the Warner Brothers. That's the only reason I'm here in the first place."

"Uh...I don't really get it." Yakko scratched his neck. "You mean, here, like...in existence?"

"Guess so. They need more than one boy so that they can call us the Warner Brothers. If it weren't for that, people wouldn't need me, so if I wasn't a boy--"

"Hey, hey, hey, 'nough of that kinda talk." Yakko released Wakko to cross his arms. "Look, I know I've, like, joked about this sorta thing before? But I'm not letting anyone take you outta this family. Doesn't matter what the bigwigs think. According to them, we're _supposed_ to be the Warner Brothers, there's _supposed_ to be three boys, we're _supposed_ to be locked in the water tower for all eternity."

"So...they're wrong?"

"You got it!" Yakko flashed a thumbs up. "We're not _supposed_ to be anything! Just be you, be happy, be Wakko!" Yakko leaned closer and spoke a little quieter to ask, "Also, are you saying you wanna switch pronouns?"

"No, I'm still a he."

"Neat!" Yakko grinned. "Cheer up, okay? I know it was about twenty years ago, but we did a whole impromptu musical number about how special it is to be yourself. Cheesy as it sounds. But the song's catchy, so I'd say it was a good call."

It was kind of a cringe moral, but Wakko appreciated it.

"You can sleep down here if you want," Yakko added. "If that'll help ya fall asleep better."

"Maybe." Wakko shifted around so he could easily get under the blankets. "Wouldja mind?"

"I wouldn't offer if I minded."

Wakko still didn't quite completely believe that there wasn't anything wrong with him, that there wasn't anything needing fixing, but if Yakko believed that, maybe it didn't matter so much. He could trust him to know what he was talking about, and maybe relying on Yakko for a little help wasn't such a bad thing.

And if they were all autistic, that was just another layer of how unique and terrific they were, right? They were already too silly and happy for the world to handle, a little more self-esteem wouldn't hurt too much.

In any case, it was nice to know that Yakko still was willing to be a loving brother, whether Wakko was like him or not, and it was easy to fall asleep when being protected by him at night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have autism too :)! and i'm non-binary. sometimes you gotta say "what if the warners were like me!"


	4. The One Who Yaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Yakko can't talk, what worth does he even have?
> 
> (characters: yakko, dot)

Yakko had no clue why he was having such a hard time breathing.

It was like he had just run a marathon, and now he was out of breath, but all he'd done was get up to drink a glass of water, and he never usually got this winded this fast. He wasn't that out of shape, was he? He and his sibs did a lot of running and jumping around, but he hadn't been this out of breath since...

Ah. _That_ incident. That one little slip-up that everybody watching the show fixated on and decided was his entire characterization.

It wasn't like they were _wrong._ Maybe Yakko had a lot of anxiety and really hated being alone because he was desperate for validation, but that wasn't anyone else's business. They weren't supposed to know anything about that.

That wasn't the plan for that episode. Well, they didn't really have defined plans or scripts for any of their episodes, but they at least had an outline of what was supposed to happen. And Yakko was planning to just laugh off the sinister, vacant atmosphere of the office building, and play around with bootleg Pennywise. He wouldn't have even needed to speak, Yakko could easily just pull some pranks and jokes centered around him.

So _of course_ he had to end up having a panic attack on screen for everyone to see. Of _course_ that had to happen. In hindsight, he probably could've asked the people in charge to delete that scene or something. It hadn't occurred to him because he never felt the need to do that.

It was too late now, in any case. He was lucky that only his own insecurities were exposed, and not Wakko's or Dot's, but the fact remained that he'd ruined that episode with one unfortunately timed panic attack.

With the way that audiences were reacting, it wouldn't be a stretch to say he'd ruined the whole show.

At least no one was watching him struggle for air now, right?

It was then Yakko noticed Dot hanging over the edge of the bunk above him, her ears hanging upside-down and her eyes wide. Once they made eye contact, she waved at him with a small, sheepish smile.

Yakko would've liked to say something snarky at her, maybe some clever joke about how she was up past her bedtime or how she shouldn't be hanging over the edge of the bed like that, but he couldn't think of anything to say at all. Even if he could, his throat felt too tight to manage to get anything out.

He couldn't say anything before Dot slipped off the bed. She landed right on her head, but of course, she was very resilient and bounced back upright before climbing into Yakko's bunk.

"Hi, Yakko!" Despite Yakko probably being very visibly panicked (for no reason!), and it being the middle of the night, Dot was quite chipper when she greeted him. "Need some Xanax?"

Yakko really didn't like his sibs seeing him like this. Not only because it was humiliating to rely on younger kids to help him feel safe, but he also just didn't want them to waste any time on him. They were pretty carefree anyway, so they probably wouldn't worry about him too much regardless, but...

"Alright, whatever, I'm getting some Xanax." Dot hopped off the bed toward the bathroom, and in seconds she was back with a glass of water and a pill bottle. "Geez, look how full this bottle is! You should really be taking these every day like it says to. Really, I feel like _I'm_ the older one sometimes."

Again, Yakko was humiliated to need his little sister to go out of her way to get his anxiety pills, but he was in no position to reject it. He grabbed the water to take a big gulp, then took a pill to swallow with it. Already, he was able to exhale more easily after swallowing it and closing up the bottle, but it still felt very tight and helpless.

He wasn't sure whether it was a good thing that Dot was here.

"Wanna talk it out?" Dot pulled herself back onto the bed, still smiling brightly. "Or just talk about anything?"

He still couldn't breathe right--he still couldn't speak. Being silent, that wasn't any better than being alone. He had to talk, it was in his name! If he couldn't talk, what did he have? Everything about him, all the worth he had, it was only because he could talk. Dot didn't need to talk, Wakko didn't need to talk, they could both just be quiet forever without needing anything, without needing to worry about their worth, because they had so much worth outside of anything they had to say out loud. But Yakko didn't have any of it, he could only talk, all his worth was in the words he used, in his voice. Once that was gone, there was nothing left he could do. He had no more worth, and then he would be forgotten, erased, and replaced, and if that happened, he knew his siblings cared for him, what would happen to them, would they be taken away too?

If Yakko Warner couldn't speak, what was even _left_ of him?

He tried opening his mouth to speak, maybe to pathetically beg for something, but it made everything tighten around his throat, maybe that was it, then, if he spoke now, his lungs and throat would close up and he'd suffocate and die.

He'd rather be dead than silent, but he didn't want to have nothing else to say at all.

He clutched his neck, hoping to somehow squeeze out the words scratching out from his throat. "I don't wanna die, am I gonna die? I don't--" All the air was cut off, but he took a stinging inhale and tried again, "I wanna stay here with you guys, I don't wanna die..."

"Yakko!" It was difficult, but he could see Dot's eyes widen, her smile quickly faltering as she climbed closer to him, her voice cracking with a vague fear. "Yakko, it's okay, it's fine! You're not gonna die, it's okay!"

Yakko could only shake his head and frantically gesture to his throat.

"It's okay!" Dot repeated, though her voice was growing shriller. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to!"

He _did_ want to. That was all he needed to do, but the air wouldn't let him.

"Are you still upset 'cause of the Pennywise thing?" Dot crossed her arms. "You don't have to be able to talk to be funny, you know! You should know that, we all did, like, five whole silent cartoons together! I know that was, like, ninety years ago, but it's not like we changed much!"

_But that was then and this is now, and being silent isn't good enough anymore, and I'm not good enough if I can't talk at all--_

"And you don't even have to be funny all the time, either! Especially when we're not even on TV!" Dot smiled again. "You're still really good to have around! You can be a good fake dad when you wanna be, and you always make me and Wakko really happy!"

At least he wasn't alone--maybe he would rather no one see him like this, but being alone wouldn't help him at all. It was at least a little comforting to listen to Dot talk even if he couldn't.

"Wakko would probably say the same thing, but he's out like a light. Probably a sugar crash, I dunno." Dot waved a hand. "He'll prob'ly be fine in the morning, so don't worry about it. Just keep trying to breathe, you can do it!"

It was getting easier to breathe now. Maybe since Dot was willing to keep him company, or because she'd gotten him some anxiety medication, but it was starting to loosen up again, enough to try to talk again. "Sorry about this, sis. You shouldn't have to worry about me."

"Oh, I'm not worried!" Dot pulled herself closer to him. "I just wanna make sure _you_ know everything's okay."

"Yeah, yeah, okay...thanks." Yakko tried to smile, hopefully not being too offputting or unnatural, but Dot seemed to brighten when he did, so it was probably a good smile. "It's, uh, it's easier now. It's easier to breathe. Thanks for the Xanax. And the, uh...the talk."

At that, Dot grinned and wrapped her arms around him. "Anytime! Also, we don't have anything to do tomorrow, so, uh, good time to have a panic attack, huh?"

Yakko shrugged. It was still a little shameful, but he was still grateful.

"Aw, don't be shy about it!" Dot giggled, releasing him. "We're sibs, we help each other out! Is it okay if I go back up to my bunk, or...?"

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead, get some good sleep." Yakko sighed, feeling very fortunate that he was already able to breathe and speak like he was supposed to. "Good night, Dot."

Sleeping was definitely a lot easier when Yakko could breathe normally and not fear for the end of his existence, but he did still worry a little about Dot. She had existed for as long as him, but ultimately, she was still young and small. She was pretty mature for her age, but that didn't mean she would be able to handle quite as much baggage as Yakko. If she kept seeing him in times of vulnerability like that, even off-screen, it would eventually wear down on her, and then what would happen? Even though she had low empathy, she still had a lot of compassion for her family, just like her brothers. Would she slowly be so consumed with the burden of constantly helping Yakko feel safe that she wouldn't even be able to smile anymore?

Maybe those worries could wait until morning. Realistically, Yakko was probably overthinking it. They lasted this long without losing their happiness, so a little bit of vulnerability wouldn't hurt so much. For now, he could wait to get a good night's sleep, knowing he was safe, and he would always be safe with his siblings.


	5. At Least the Cough is Still Cute!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot has a cold, which is no big deal, but still a little bit distressing for her brothers.
> 
> (characters: yakko, wakko, dot)

The Warners had a lot of fun when they filmed their movie. It was something new and exciting, and they explored some themes that had never really been touched upon in Animaniacs. There were some genuinely sad moments, but they were still having a fun time acting, even if they got a little too invested in the moment.

Like that infamous death scene with Dot. Even though they were acting, and Yakko knew this, it wasn't very easy to hold it together when watching his baby sister die in his arms. That was probably a good thing, since real tears were perfect for that scene, but it was jarring to film something like that.

He wasn't sure he'd ever genuinely cried on camera before or since then.

In real life, Yakko would never have to worry about Dot dying of illness, would hardly ever have to worry about his siblings dying in general. But Dot had never really gotten sick before that movie, or since then, until now.

The muffled coughs from the bunk above Yakko sounded unnervingly identical to the coughs from Dot acting out her death.

He figured he'd just get used to it like the sound of snoring and fall asleep, but the more she coughed into her pillow, the more Yakko imagined her sick and dying, the more he imagined losing her for real, forever, and he really could not stand it.

Dot needed her sleep, so Yakko couldn't deliberately interrupt her just to put himself at ease, but he really didn't want to be alone. It was a good thing he had a whole other sibling.

He slipped out of bed and climbed up the ladder, briefly glancing to see that Dot was still sleeping, then pulling himself up to the top bunk.

Wakko wasn't sleeping. He was actually sitting up, eyes wide awake. He waved at Yakko.

"Good to see ya," Yakko quietly greeted him. "Can't sleep either, huh?"

Wakko shook his head. They heard Dot cough again, and Wakko lowered his gaze.

"Is it 'cause of Dot?" Yakko sat beside him with arms crossed over his knees. "Don't worry, we can't catch coronavirus or anything serious or deadly, she's just got a cold."

Wakko nodded. Yakko realized pretty quick that Wakko couldn't use his voice right now, but that was fine. Yakko could talk enough for both of them.

"Is it 'cause she still coughs like she did in our movie?" Yakko hugged an arm around his brother. "Well, that's method acting for ya. You gotta really expose yourself on camera to get the emotions right."

Wakko glanced up at him with tight eyebrows.

"Not that kind of expose. I don't think we've gotten _that_ desperate."

Wakko nodded in understanding before looking down again, slightly flinching at the sound of another cough.

It wasn't Dot's fault, of course, but Yakko really wished she could stop coughing just for the night. He sighed. "I'd wake her up to get her some cough drops or something, but I really don't wanna disturb her. You need lots of rest when you're sick, you know."

Wakko crossed his arms, then put his hands over his ears, glancing back and forth between the bed beneath him and Yakko. Yakko didn't try to stop him. He was already being a little intrusive by coming up here in the first place.

Dot's coughing was probably hard for Wakko to listen to, too. He hadn't been close to her for that whole scene in the movie, but he did know about what Dot was acting out. He probably watched the movie more than once, too, so he had to have seen it over and over again. Coughing in the middle of her sentences, spoken in such a little, weak voice, everything fading from her, and even the warmth seeming to fade out in his arms as she struggled to keep her eyes open...

Yakko had to stop. He had to stop thinking about that. He clasped his hands together and tried to breathe. It wasn't real, it was just acting, it wasn't real, that never happened and it never would happen.

Not only had he watched the movie itself, he remembered having to act out that scene multiple times. He was so deep into acting he really felt like his sister was dying, over and over again. They had to do several takes because Yakko kept faltering and breaking into tears, even though it wasn't even real.

He barely noticed Wakko gently grabbing his arm.

"Sorry," Yakko muttered, figuring he probably looked super out of it right now. "I know...I know she's not really in any danger, but...it's a powerful association, I guess."

He knew that was true, but still he kept thinking it. _What if it's not just a cold? What if she dies in her sleep?_

Wakko let go of him, then crawled over to the ladder. He hung his head over the side of the bunk, then knocked a fist on the frame.

"Wakko!" Yakko flinched, and grabbed his shoulders. "What're you doing?"

Of course, the knocking woke Dot up. Yakko wanted to see her, but he didn't want Dot to think he was complicit in disturbing her, so he stayed put. He could hear her drowsy voice from the bunk below.

"Whuh...whaddaya want, Wakko? I was sleeping..."

Wakko made some motion with his hands that Yakko couldn't really see.

"Huh? Okay..."

The ladder shook a little, and soon Dot appeared as Wakko turned back around to face Yakko. Dot saw him, and her sleepy eyes widened a bit. She coughed before asking, "What's going on up here?"

Yakko wasn't about to talk to his siblings about his deep irrational fears, especially with one of them being sick and the other being unable to speak. That didn't leave many good explantions for why he was sitting up here, though. He simply crossed his arms back over his knees and looked away, quietly answering, "Wakko couldn't sleep."

"Then what does he need _me_ for?"

Yakko immediately realized he could just use Wakko to project his feelings, since they were probably similar enough to what Wakko felt anyway. "He's worried 'cause you're sick. Probably wants to make sure you're doing good." He glanced pointedly back at Wakko. "I didn't want him to wake you up, though."

Dot sighed, then coughed again, then muttered, "Well, now you're gonna get sick too, genius." She jabbed a finger to Wakko's chest, then crossed her arms. "What do we do now?"

Yakko stretched out his limbs. "Well, since Wakko woke you up, I might as well go getcha some cold medicine."

"I already took cold medicine."

"Eh, alright, maybe just some more water and cough drops then." Yakko gently pushed his siblings aside and swung his feet over to the ladder. "And maybe some milk for Wakko--is that okay?"

Wakko nodded, but he refused to look at Yakko. His brow was tilted down over his narrowed eyes. He probably had caught on that Yakko was basically using him as a scapegoat--though again, Yakko was not at all complicit in disturbing Dot--and was frustrated that he couldn't defend himself right now. Ah, well, he'd have time in the morning to give Yakko an earful.

Dot didn't seem to be too angry with Wakko, anyway. She coughed again into the elbow of one arm, then tightened the other around Wakko. "If they're the weird honey ones, I don't want 'em, they're gross."

"Nah, nah, I have standards. They're the citrus ones." He winked. "And I made sure to hide 'em in the For The Love Of God Don't Eat All Of These Cabinet so Wakko didn't eat them all this time. I gave him his own bag of cough drops."

That bag was probably long gone, but he trusted Wakko not to try too hard to break into the For The Love Of God Don't Eat All Of These Cabinet, which also included over-the-counter medicines, nearly expired dishwashing soap, and Tide Pods. It was also the highest cabinet in the kitchen, but Yakko was a cartoon character, so it was an easy task for him to jump up there and open the door, swipe the cough drops, and close the door before he fell back to the floor.

Maybe giving the whole bag to Dot was excessive, but she'd probably be too sleepy to impulsively eat them all in one night. They had all the time in the world to get more cough drops, anyway, so it really wouldn't be more than a minor inconvenience. It wasn't as if the cough drops were an actual medication that could be overdosed on.

When Yakko returned to the bunk bed, Dot was back on her bunk, but watching over the edge for him. Yakko smiled and tossed the bag of cough drops up to her. He could probably toss the glass of water, too, but it was less risky to just use the ladder to climb up and hand it to her.

Dot coughed again, then smiled up at Yakko. "Thanks. I'm gonna try to go back to sleep."

It was silly, but actually seeing his sister talking and smiling, her voice still full of life even if it was drowsy, made all the worries go away. No way she would just die in the middle of the night--Yakko was able to fully believe that now, and even the sound of her coughing wasn't so unbearable.

"Yeah, me too," he replied. "G'night, Dot."

"G'night."

He brought the last item, a glass of warm milk, to Wakko, sitting up at his pillow with the blanket over his knees. He nodded and gave a small smile as he took the glass of milk.

"Wakko..." Yakko smiled back. "Sorry for giving you a hard time. I'm glad you woke up Dot, she helped make me a feel a lot better. I hope you feel better, too."

Wakko nodded and rocked himself a little bit. That was a happy motion, Yakko recognized it.

"Well, get some Z's, alright? You need lotsa rest too. G'night, Wakko."

Wakko waved goodbye as Yakko started to descend the ladder back to his own bunk. He did have one little fear--these feelings of safety would fade away once his siblings were asleep, and he wouldn't have anyone or anything else to help him.

Well, that wouldn't be true. It was okay to rely on his siblings a little bit if he really needed to, but he didn't tonight.

The sound of Dot's coughing was barely noticeable anymore, and he was able to fall peacefully asleep.


	6. Everything's Out of Character

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot's mostly used to seeing people say awful things about her and her brothers, but sometimes it's too much.
> 
> (characters: dot, yakko, wakko)  
> (warning for themes of unreality + discussion of pedophilia, incest, and rape)

It wasn't very uncommon for her brothers to grab and hold her by the arms.

She didn't think anything much of it. It happened a lot in scary situations like this one. She couldn't remember how and why she was here, and she couldn't see anything clearly, she couldn't even tell which brother was on which side of her, but it was okay, because she was safe.

That was what she always thought.

It started to feel wrong when she felt something wet touch her somewhere, then the grip tightened, and menacing words were spoken in a low voice into her ears before they were pulled. She didn't want to know why everything suddenly felt so tainted and digusting, and why despite the commotion, she could hear applause.

She didn't know who the voice belonged to, but she heard it clearly: "You know you like this. Show them how much you like it. There's nothing wrong with them enjoying this from a distance, after all."

She shut her eyes. She couldn't bear to see their faces. She couldn't escape from it, she couldn't even begin to believe what was going on.

Someone else spoke. "You knew it was only a matter of time. You've been out in the open for so long, now it's time for people to do what they want with you, make you do what you want for them."

Even this moment was someone else's doing, then, wasn't it? Someone else making her act this out, but she didn't want it, she didn't want it.

"Don't start acting out for sympathy. You don't deserve sympathy. You're not real."

That was it. She was a character. Made for the people, made for their enjoyment, and left out to be contorted in so many conflicting ways, then torn into pieces to be made into their own puppets. And it didn't matter what people wanted to do with those, what people projected onto those, as long as they weren't doing it to _real_ people, it didn't matter what they thought and felt and believed.

If she were real, this betrayal would matter, because it was a real child being hurt. But she wasn't real, so as long as _she_ was being twisted around like this, the puppeteer would be completely prevented from hurting real children.

It faded to white noise, but her arms were still being held and trapped.

They were right--she'd been stupid not to expect this. She felt like a child, she acted like a child, she was seen as a child--but truthfully, it was just an excuse not to be seen as something old enough to project some disgusting fantasy onto.

Did it really matter how revolting it was, though, if she wasn't even real? If she wasn't real, it was harmless. So she had to lay limp like the doll she was and suck it up.

But that wasn't good enough. They shook her--right, of course, a lifeless doll wasn't fun to play with, but a living doll was no better than a living child, and where would that leave them?

Of course, they weren't real either, were they? They could do what they wanted, and she had to obey so everyone could be entertained. There was no way anyone could get away with doing this to a real girl, so that's what she was here for, to fill that space and let them get away with their desires.

She finally realized she could speak, as feeble as it sounded.

"Stop for a second, I'm not ready--no one told me yet, I'm not ready to be..."

She was released.

"Where are you going? Are you gonna--getting ready to do something really really bad, I said I'm not--"

_"Snap out of it, Dot!"_

She recognized it now--it was Yakko. She didn't want to open her eyes to see what he looked like right now.

"Dot, it's okay!" He spoke quieter, but still with an air of urgency. "It's okay, you were just having a bad dream, it's just us three in the water tower and no one's watching--"

Of course, of course, Yakko wasn't real either. He was being played with too, wasn't he?

"You don't know that! We're not real enough for it to matter! Just don't touch me!"

Maybe that was a dangerous thing to demand, but it seemed to turn out okay. Little by little, Dot's eyes adjusted to being awake--awake from the nightmare, that was all it was, a nightmare.

She realized Wakko was here too. He'd been quiet. He reached for her hand, but Yakko put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, and Wakko pulled away. He was still able to speak quietly to her. "Is this about...the Internet stuff?"

Dot nodded. That was where that started, anyway--realizing so many people were projecting sexual fetishes onto them, and even making content of them acting sexually with each other. Maybe it'd always been that way, but the Internet was so much more widespread now, and with the reboot, Animaniacs was at a new height of popularity.

"It's disgusting," Wakko muttered, crossing his arms. "I'd never do that stuff to you."

"But...haven't you already done it?"

Wakko flinched away, with wide bewildered eyes, and clutched Yakko's arm.

"We're fiction, you know. So anything that people write about us might as well be real." Dot clasped her hands together. "Even this conversation we're having, right now, it's not any more real than that scary stuff, because someone already wrote this down. I know we're not in TV, but we're probably being written about by fans right now, at least."

Yakko averted his eyes and muttered something like "explains why you're so outta character right now," but he didn't seem annoyed. Frustrated, maybe, but Dot recognized the worry in his tightened brow. He sighed and scratched his neck. "These are the 'fiction doesn't affect reality' kinda bozos, right?"

"Yeah. But they're right, aren't they?" Dot tightened her hands, remembering flashes of the voices in her dream. "It's better they think about hurting me than actually hurt someone like me."

Wakko tilted his head. "Won't that just make 'em wanna hurt kids more?"

Yakko sighed again. "Oh, trust me, they'll hurt _plenty_ of real human kids once they figure out how to get away with it." Yakko narrowed his eyes. "Y'know somethin' funny, sibs? Remember that, ah, _incident_ with the It parody in the reboot? You see how people treated that whole thing?"

The younger Warners shrugged.

"They're all, oh, poor Yakko, he has anxiety, this scene really hit close to home, it makes me wanna cry!" Yakko bitterly chuckled. "Even some kids saying they think they're a lot like me. And there's nothing wrong with that, I _guess,_ I'd rather they mind their own business, but either way, it's like...gee, _that_ fiction's sure affecting their reality, huh?"

Dot hadn't thought of it that way. If people had sympathy for Yakko having a panic attack on screen, why wouldn't they have sympathy for Dot being abused at best and outright molested at worst? If people related to Yakko's anxiety, wouldn't they then be able to relate to stories people wrote acting like those were good things happening to Dot, and feel like hurting real kids like that still somehow left them in the right?

"Basically," Yakko continued, "hurting you isn't really better than hurting kids that exist in their own universe. It's just a stepping stone they use."

Dot grabbed Wakko's hand, signaling to Wakko that it was safe to pull her into a hug. Wakko tightened his arms around her and spoke again. "I really wish they'd stop. Is there really nothing we can do about it?"

Yakko crossed his arms. "We can complain. And people who _don't_ look at children and sexualize them are gonna complain, too. We could make a 'hey, please don't try to normalize incest child porn' PSA, but that wouldn't really fit into Animaniacs, would it."

Dot shook her head and held to Wakko's arms. "I don't want anyone watching to know that I saw their gross stuff. We'll either lose all our fans and money and the show will get cancelled, or the gross people are gonna wanna make it even worse."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Yakko pulled both of the younger Warners into a hug. "All we can really do is hope they all eventually die out 'fore too many kids or any of the weirdos' families get groomed by it. Or 'til the freaks just die, whatever's quicker. At least they can't get in the water tower and make us do anything nasty to each other. And the bigwigs aren't gonna do it either, can you _imagine_ the calls they'd get? The jail time they'd probably face?"

Maybe it was a good thing that Dot didn't have much empathy, or else she wouldn't ever be able to cope with the idea that she couldn't help anyone being hurt by pedophiles. The fact that they could be using _her_ image to hurt people was a little distressing, and the fact that she was probably being used for this very moment the same way she was used for things she hated...but the comfort of being in her brothers' arms was a good distraction.

Maybe they could do some sort of wacky metaphor for staying away from adults who wrote child porn. Dot had already asserted she was done with thinly-veiled allegories, but she hadn't said anything about _thickly-_ veiled allegories, so it was probably still a reasonable suggestion. Maybe they could help people in more ways than making them laugh...that thought made her breathe a little easier.

She could figure that out in the morning, though. Right now she had some sleep to catch up on, cuddled against her brothers who she knew would never want to hurt her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sigh........you know what this is about. sorry for the cringe quality i was pissed off. the warners are huge comfort characters for me...
> 
> i turned on comment moderation bc i know how The Freaks can be.


	7. Can They Really Be Out of Character Though?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If the Warners aren't real, is it even possible to lie about them in such horrible ways?
> 
> (continuation of chapter 6, but reading chapter 6 first isn't necessary.)
> 
> (characters: yakko, wakko)  
> (warning for themes of unreality)

It was hard to remember sometimes, but Yakko Warner really just wasn't real, was he?

He was a cartoon character, made up, made to exist in a cartoon and entertain real people. And after that, he didn't exist, right? He only existed in shaky mockeries written and drawn by the people he made laugh. Even this, even his thoughts right now, they were being written by someone who didn't know him at all.

So he wasn't real in any sense of the word, because these people could make him do and say whatever they wanted, and that would be true. He couldn't really act out of character, because everything was true, he was only as real as everything people made up for him.

He left the water tower, killed someone, and came back covered in human blood. If someone wrote that sentence, it was true, it was as real as everything else. He hadn't done it just now, but if the people in power decided they wanted it, they could have him do anything.

Anything as evil and twisted as they wanted. They could make him do anything to his siblings.

There were too many people out there with that power. The only thing Yakko could do about it was to stop existing, but whoever this person was, in their hands, he didn't want that, but in the very next person's hands, he could want to do something much more drastic.

Did Wakko and Dot know that? Maybe. He knew Dot had already been exposed to the revelation that people could use her image to do whatever they wanted...but Yakko wouldn't believe all of it. If _he_ thought it was out of character for Dot to act a certain way, it probably wasn't real, it was a lie, it was even less real than they were.

But Yakko couldn't be out of character, because he had no character to speak of. That was what he thought. Maybe his siblings would think differently.

He woke up still holding Dot and Wakko in his arms, in Dot's bed. It was morning, but very early in the morning, before sunrise. He trusted his siblings to help him figure out these feelings, so he wanted to wake them up, but Dot had already been disturbed by a horrific nightmare, so he didn't want to wake her again.

Wakko was fair game, though. Yakko released Dot and gently shook Wakko awake, stopping once his little brother drowsily mumbled and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, Wakko," he greeted him softly, "sorry for the rude awakening, but I really gotta talk to you."

"Mmhm...whaddelse is new..." Wakko blinked his eyes half open. "You need to be validated again?"

"...maybe."

"Okay. You're valid." Wakko smiled for a second before he rubbed his eyes again. "Anything else?"

"I, uhhh..." Yakko was a little hesitant to bring this up now, because he didn't want Wakko to worry, but Wakko was more carefree than him anyway, so he could probably trust him to know what to do. "I've been sorta thinkin' about what Dot said."

"Dot's said a lotta things."

"I mean about how a lot of what we say and do is already planned out, and we're not real." Yakko tilted his head. "You remember her sayin' that? I don't blame ya if you don't, it was the middle of the night."

Wakko yawned. "A little bit...but you guys're real to me. And I'm real to you guys, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Isn't that enough, then?"

Yakko couldn't help smiling. He really did adore that way of thinking, not in a condescending way, maybe in an envious way if anything. "Yeah, you're real enough. You have your own personality and lotsa things that make ya special. But what about me? I don't have much. I'm just the funny guy, I don't have any character."

"Oh, sure you do!" Wakko widened his eyes a bit more with a smile. "You have a lotta sympathy for people being hurt, and for us, you take real good care of us, you're always makin' sure everyone you care about is safe and happy. Oh, and you're real smart, too, maybe I just have low standards, but you know a lot about history and the world and stuff, that's why you have so many of the songs in Animaniacs. Oh, and I think you're a good singer, too, but I guess you wouldn't be in Animaniacs if you weren't. You, um, have a real flair for the dramatic, I mean, I see so many people call you a theatre kid, so I guess that's what they're talking about..."

"Alright, alright, slow down," Yakko chuckled. "I gotta admit, that's pretty validating. Good job, Wakko."

"Did I win?"

"Yup, you won the Validate Yakko So He Doesn't Completely Dissociate contest." He sat up. "Your prize is, uh...what's a good prize?"

"I want licorice."

"Your prize is licorice!"

He glanced at Dot, thankfully still sound asleep.

"Maybe we should wait 'til actual morning, though," Yakko added. "Really, though, thanks. Sometimes I just need to know what you guys think of me. That's probably selfish, but no one's watching, so whatever, you know?"

"Anytime!" Wakko grinned, before curling back up and promptly falling back asleep.

Yakko loved his siblings--that was part of him, and that did make him a little real. And knowing that he had something like that, something like the thing that prevented him from being so inconsolably devastated about Wakko and Dot's image being used in awful ways.

 _If it's out of character, it's not the real thing._ Yakko smiled as he closed his eyes again. _So at least this is a little bit real. And everything people want to do to hurt each other...that's less real. Maybe we'll add that one to the show bible._

Knowing that the Warners were safe here, he was able to fall asleep, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next one will be less edgy and less cringe probably. i hope. cross ur fingers


	8. I Can't Believe It's Not Sanguivoriphobia!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot's too nervous to sleep after a scary vampire movie.
> 
> (characters: dot, yakko)

It was kind of funny. When filming Animaniacs, they put themselves in some situations that would be pretty terrifying if they weren't for comedic effect. And knowing it was all fun and games, there was hardly ever anything to be afraid of while filming. It was only after a good amount of time passed when thinking about it became scary.

It wasn't always scary to think about. Just thinking or talking about vampires wasn't enough to scare Dot, and make her feel like she was about to get all her blood sucked out in her sleep with no one in the room to see it. Watching a scary movie revolving around vampires, on the other hand, struck a lot of paranoia.

Yakko and Wakko didn't seem to notice that Dot was a little shaken up when they all went to bed after their late night movie marathon. They were probably too sleepy. That was fine. She'd grown more mature since they filmed the Dracula episode all those years ago, and even back then, she wasn't scared at all. And then when they starred in that comic with the brain-eating vampire zombies invading the movie lot, she was only _slightly_ scared. She didn't need to be teased for being such a baby, or worse, coddled and fussed over.

Dot had the bottom bunk tonight, so at least she didn't have to worry about any vampires coming down on her from above. Then again, when she was closest to the floor, she was the easiest prey for any vampires who happened to break into the water tower.

Well, they probably had what they needed to kill vampires. They probably had garlic in the kitchen, though she still wasn't sure if she was supposed to eat it or throw it at them or what. They had a steak, she thought, and steaks worked pretty well in that comic, but those ended up being fake vampires anyway, so it probably didn't mean anything. They had things made of silver, too. She couldn't remember if silver killed vampires or werewolves, but it'd be worth a shot.

Dot figured she had nothing to worry about, but after a long sleepless silence, she heard some rustling of clothes and footsteps.

She didn't want to look. She turned over in her bed and tightened the blanket around her. She gripped it so that nothing to grab her by the neck...but, wait, couldn't a vampire just suck her blood from anywhere? They could take Dot by the cheeks or the ears, but if she tightened the blanket around her whole body she would run out of air. And she wouldn't _die_ for that, but she'd probably pass out and leave herself vulnerable.

"Uh, Dot?"

She turned her head back. She couldn't see clearly in the dark, but it seemed like Yakko standing by her bed. That made Dot sigh with relief and loosen her grip, but even so, she didn't want Yakko to know she was scared in the first place.

"It's just me." Yakko stepped closer with his hands up. "What's goin' on? Did you have a nightmare?"

Dot shook her head. She didn't want him to stay for too long fretting over her. "No, I'm fine. Just having trouble sleeping." It wasn't a lie, so she didn't feel bad.

Of course, Yakko had to be persistent and sit on the edge of her bed anyway. "You want melatonin?"

"No thanks."

Yakko hummed and clasped his hands. He didn't look away from her, and didn't say anything else until Dot cleared her throat, hopefully indirectly telling him to go away. Instead, he smiled at her, maybe with a hint of smugness. "Did you get scared because of the movie we watched?"

"N-no!" That _was_ a lie, and Dot was unfortunately not a very good liar at all. She immediately realized that Yakko was onto her, and she curled up tighter under her blanket. "W-what about _you?_ You're not sleeping, either!"

"I got up 'cause I was thirsty." Yakko rested his chin in his hands. "I can get you water, too."

"I don't want water."

"Well, too bad for you, huh?" Yakko hopped off the bed. "You're gonna get hydrated and you're gonna _like_ it."

Dot groaned as he left the room, gripping the pillow with her fingers. It was good that Yakko wasn't treating her like a baby or coddling her like she was helpless, but it was embarrassing to be seen in this sort of state sometimes. Being the youngest and being the only girl at the same time meant that everyone saw her as being the weakest, the most reliant on her brothers to keep her safe. And sure, she wasn't on television right now, but if either she or Yakko let it slip that vampire movies frightened her...

"Here you go, Your Sleepiness." Yakko held a glass of water out to Dot. She figured he wouldn't take it back, so she reluctantly sat up and took it to sip on the water. "Listen, if it makes you feel any better, we have garlic and steak in the fridge. They'll probably distract any vampires that'll come into the water tower."

The cold tap water felt nice when Dot swallowed it. She was grateful for the gesture, but still nervous about something other than vampires. "Promise not to tell anyone about this?"

"Oh, of course." Yakko waved a hand. "Those people've already scraped together enough fuel for the angst fire, I'm not gonna give out anything else to do with nightmares and fear and all that."

Maybe Yakko had more faith in Dot than she thought. She guessed it helped that Wakko was way more afraid of clowns than she was of vampires, so Yakko was probably used to helping his little siblings feel safe without coddling them.

She would say "sorry for doubting you," but she hadn't expressed any underlying insecurities about her fragility, and she really didn't want to have to go into all _that_ right now to explain herself, so she just said, "Thanks for the water."

"No problem. You can just leave the cup on the floor when you're done." Yakko smiled brightly at her. "I'm heading back to bed. Go ahead and wake me up if you need anything."

He didn't even try to snuggle with her. It was a boundary Dot hadn't even noticed, but now that it hadn't been crossed without her actually wanting it, she felt very relieved, and very safe. Dot sighed happily and waved. "G'night!"

"Good night!"

And Yakko ascended the ladder back to the middle bunk, leaving Dot closing her eyes to sleep and smiling, reminded that she could ask her brothers for help whenever she needed to, and knowing now that she wouldn't be patronized or coddled or seen as a pathetic, weak little girl if she did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for 3 chapters in one day i kinda needed to write somsthing light after That whole vent fest. happy new year :)


	9. Dot's Dot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dot's little dot of acne is turning into a big, ugly, stinging blister, and it's incredibly insufferable.
> 
> (characters: dot, wakko)

The nice thing about being covered with fur was that no one could see Dot's skin.

The fur on her face was thin, so it didn't always conceal acne on her face, but visible zits didn't last very long. They only lived a week, just like that song they sang about zits. The nice thing about that segment was that they could just paint a fake zit on Dot's face instead of using her real acne. If they'd done the latter, the episode would've been a lot grosser, she figured.

That gross habit she had was apparently called dermatillomania, a compulsive behavior that involved picking at or tearing at skin. In Dot's case, it was whenever something felt a little off. If the skin wasn't smooth, she'd pick and scratch at the imperfection until it smoothed out, no matter how much it stung or bled. 

Fortunately, she only really did this in the water tower, where they had water, and thus a way to clean up whatever blood got stuck in her fur. (At the sink, of course. Toon blood was just ink, but it would still be way overboard to contaminate the Warner lot water supply with it.)

Once Dot was back in bed, though, it was hard to ignore the stinging throb on her face. It was smoother, sure, but now it was bigger, and even touching it burned a little.

This was going to form a really unsightly scab by morning. A big black spot poking out through her white face fur. She could cover it up with makeup, sure, but it still hurt, and she could already feel how much attention would be drawn to it.

Dot really hated her skin, and all its invisible, gruesome discomfort.

She groaned into her pillow, not caring how loud it was. She wanted to go to sleep, but knowing that this thing was here on her face could only plague her with ideas.

 _What if this one never goes away? It just grows until it covers my whole entire face, and everything is just always swollen._ That thought alone was enough to make Dot harshly flinch. _Gross gross_ _gross, that's so gross! And everyone would just watch as it gradually gets worse and worse, so..._

The worst part was that it was her own fault, so there really wasn't anything that she deserved to help her deal with it, not even sympathy from her brothers.

Come to think of it...the bunk above Dot was unusually quiet. Who was sleeping there tonight? She knew Wakko slept on the top bunk yesterday, so he probably wasn't sleeping there tonight. He was also walking into the room right now toward the bunk bed.

No surprise there. Wakko had his fair share of midnight snacks, but Dot had to know something for certain. "Did you--"

"I didn't touch your Cosmic Brownies," Wakko interrupted, holding up his hands defensively. "Only the Zebra Cakes."

"Good." Dot felt herself smile, confident that she had threatened her brothers' lives enough times to protect her favorite Little Debbie snack, but of course, moving her mouth like that made her blemish sting and burn, and she couldn't help but flinch.

Even Wakko was able to notice that. He stepped closer and leaned forward, clasping his hands behind his back. "What is it?"

He probably couldn't see it in the dark, so she could at least avoid any ridicule about how she looked.

"Picked my skin too much again," Dot replied. There was definitely shame in saying it out loud, so hopefully she wouldn't need to elaborate further.

"Uh oh!" Wakko tilted his head. "Is it bleeding?"

"Not anymore."

"Didja put Vaseline on it?"

"Vaseline?" Dot hunched up her shoulders. "Would that really work for...this kinda thing?"

"Well, it's not like it'll kill you." Wakko shrugged. "Maybe it'll make ya burst in flames, but we live in a water tower anyway."

Before Dot could say any more, Wakko zipped to and from the bathroom, having put on disposable gloves over his normal gloves and dipped a finger in a container of petroleum jelly.

"I could do it myself, you know," Dot reminded him.

"Oh, I know. But I'm the one with the gloves."

Wakko used his un-jellied hand to pull Dot's face closer, squinted to find the problem area, and dabbed the jelly onto it. "Make sure not to eat it. It might not work if you do."

"I'm not gonna eat it. It tastes disgusting." Dot crossed her arms. "What even _is_ petroleum? Sounds like a kinda mineral."

Wakko dipped his finger in the jelly again to lick it. "Maybe it's metal."

"Yeah, probably metal. I guess we can look it up later."

"Uh huh." Wakko nodded and closed the jelly container. "I'll leave it here, in case you need more. Or if you really need a snack."

"It tastes disgusting," Dot repeated. "But thanks, Wakko."

"Aw, it's nothing!" Wakko waved as he stepped onto the ladder. "G'night!"

"G'night."

It was a really small, really insignificant gesture, but it certainly helped Dot feel more at ease with herself. She felt less ugly, less like a freak for being dermatillomaniac, less ridiculed by the world. And again, she learned it was okay to rely on her brothers sometimes.

Why was that so hard for her to really understand? Was it just an underlying paranoia that she'd be a weak link? It wasn't as if she never helped her brothers in return, though, right? Wasn't that enough, at least?

Maybe she was getting better with it, though. She didn't lie to Wakko about her problem, she didn't try to refuse his help, she thanked him with dignity and honor...

 _So this is what it's like to have character development in real life,_ Dot mused, closing her eyes. Maybe she understood her trust in her brothers more than she realized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspired by my own dermatillomania leading to a very unsightly and sorta painful zit on my lip... very gross. i will probably continue to make it worse
> 
> edit: to everyone saying how they didnt know dermatillomania had a name, it makes me really happy that i helped :) i remember how happy i was when i first found out it had a name. if you have any other compulsive behaviors like hair pulling, hair eating, nail picking, etc. there's info about all the different body focused repetitive behaviors online you could look into to learn more about it :)!


	10. Reluctant Character Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko is well aware that he needs to be the funny guy, but his anxiety won't shut up about it.
> 
> (characters: yakko, wakko)  
> (warning for discussions of drug overdose and self harm, no actual instances of them though)

A lot of people liked Yakko Warner. A lot of people liked Animaniacs. That was enough to make Yakko satisfied with himself.

Of course, his stupid, destructive anxiety thought otherwise.

Once in a while he'd remember some epiphany full of "what if"s--what if he stopped making jokes, what if he couldn't keep the show alive anymore, what if he was wrong and no one actually liked him, what if everything he ever worked for ended up being for nothing, what if he wasn't funny?

This was really pathetic, wasn't it?

Yakko relied far too much on validation. He knew that. He could probably discuss it with a therapist, but given how almost the entirety of his interactions with Scratchansniff had been wacky and silly and totally lighthearted, it would be incredibly awkward to genuinely ask the guy to do his job for once. In fact, being genuine at all wasn't easy, because that wasn't who Yakko Warner was supposed to be.

Well, he could probably be a little more genuine right now, at least, in the middle of the night with no cameras watching, but that didn't change that much. The idea that Yakko had some kind of anxiety disorder was still incredibly jarring. He didn't want it, he didn't like it, he didn't believe it. That was too realistic. He wasn't realistic. Yakko wasn't realistic.

He was a _cartoon character,_ for Christ's sake.

And yeah, sure, cartoon characters could have anxiety. In shows like My Little Pony or Steven Universe or whatever the hot Netflix-exclusive cartoon series was at the moment, it was expected to see characters showing symptoms of anxiety. But Animaniacs wasn't that kind of show. Yakko wasn't that kind of character.

Well, he supposed he could be considered an actor on the show. There was Yakko Warner the character, who didn't have anxiety, and Yakko Warner the actor, who...maybe had anxiety. And if Yakko wasn't being filmed right now, he didn't have to be in character.

Then why was it still so urgent to be the funny guy? It was simple. He couldn't play a funny character if he wasn't a funny person. Yakko the character was pretty flat. Without his jokes and his snark, he didn't really have anything. What made Yakko the actor any different?

He'd already taken a dose of Xanax a little while ago. He wondered if he ought to do it again. It wasn't like it'd kill him, right?

Out of curiosity, he pulled his phone out from under his pillow and Googled "xanax overdose" and quickly found a list of overdose symptoms:

_People who take too much Xanax may experience drowsiness, poor coordination, blurred vision, and/or confusion._

Well, that didn't seem so bad. It could even help him sleep.

_Sometimes, people may experience severe symptoms, such as coma or even death._

Ah. Maybe he didn't need _that_ much help sleeping. He couldn't die that way, but he didn't think it had ever been tested whether or not toons could be comatose. Maybe whatever the, uh...whatever his name was, the hunter Chicken Boo disguised himself as, he'd kidnapped a bunch of Animaniacs characters and kept them petrified or something. Yakko still wasn't really sure what the deal with that was, but that was probably a similar experience to being comatose, maybe.

"Yakko?"

A somewhat drowsy voice called out from above him. Yakko looked up to see his little brother, rubbing his eyes as he peeked over the side of his bunk.

Wakko squinted. "You're using light mode? Doesn't that hurt?"

"It's not my fault. This is just a generic health info site, it doesn't have dark mode." Yakko switched off his phone screen. "Sorry. You need something?"

"I'm bored."

"Whaddaya want from me, a lullaby?"

"Can I visit you?"

"Come on, Wakko." Yakko smiled up at him. "My bunk's always open to little sibs who can't sleep. I dunno how much help I'd be, though, I can't sleep either."

"I don't care." Wakko swung down to Yakko's bunk and crawled over to sit beside him. "What're you lookin' up health stuff for? Are ya sick?"

"Nah. Just wondering what would happen if I overdosed."

Wakko didn't respond right away. When Yakko actually looked at him, he flinched at how shocked he looked. The moonlight was just enough for Yakko to see his eyes big and bulging with his hands clamped over his mouth.

Oh.

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way," Yakko rushed to reassure him, holding a hand to his shoulder. "I'm not--it's not a self-harm thing, I was just curious. I'm not gonna _do_ it."

Wakko released his mouth and heaved a sigh of relief. "Jeez. Don't scare me. Made me worried you read too much angsty Animaniacs fanfiction and started to get ideas."

Yakko couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I wouldn't do that. Don'tcha know me at all?"

For some reason, though, the idea made Yakko's heartbeat pick up a little.

"What were you...uh, what was..." Wakko fidgeted with his fingers for a second. "The overdose stuff you were looking at, what were you looking up? Like, what drug?"

"Xanax." Yakko shrugged. "I can't sleep 'cause my anxiety's being stupid, so I just wondered, hypothetically, what might happen if I took another Xanax pill."

"Anxiety...?"

"Yeah, you know. The mental illness that makes you real scared for no good reason at all." Yakko saw Wakko's eyes widen a little again, and he tried to smile. "It's fine, though. Really. You know I'm not the type to resort to self-harm or anything like that."

"Mm-hm." Wakko looked away, crossing his arms loosely around himself. "Well...I'm not that stupid, I guess."

"Uh, huh?"

"I don't think you're the _type,_ but...haven't you ever thought about it before?"

Thought about it? Yakko didn't think he ever considered it. Maybe he'd thought stuff along the lines of being worthless, or being pathetic, or being only good for one thing and if he messed it up he'd be disposed of, but...

"I don't think so." Yakko didn't like how his heart felt right now. "Let's get some shut-eye, okay?"

"No." Wakko grabbed his shoulders. "I know the rules, we can't talk about it on camera. I wanna talk about it now."

"Cut it out, Wakko." Yakko would've brushed his hands away, but the grip was surprisingly firm, so he didn't even try. "I'm not that angst-ridden. Quit interrogating me about it, alright? Starting to think _you_ read all the angsty Animaniacs fanfiction."

"You really are a _person_ , though!"

Wakko raising his voice was definitely alarming enough for Yakko to have to give himself a second. Hopefully, Dot was still sound asleep on the top bunk. 

"I...know?" Yakko tilted his head. "What's that s'posed to mean, Wakko?"

"You don't have to keep making humor your whole personality, you're still a person!" Wakko let go of Yakko and tightened his brow a bit. "And really, when you're making jokes just to make people think you're not upset, it's not funny."

...Was that so?

"Sorry."

Yakko didn't know what else to say to that, and it seemed Wakko didn't know how to follow up on it. They sat in silence, which at least gave Yakko time to think it over.

"Well...I'm certainly not a stepford smiler."

"I know."

"That's good. I don't see why I would have to be one or the other, but you know how fans are. If I'm not a comedian and nothing else, I'm a secretly depressed tragic clown."

Wakko leaned forward, his expression having softened. "Why do you care about what other people think?"

"Well, that's what keeps our show on the air."

Wakko scratched his neck. "If people have to like it, why's Big Mouth still getting new seasons?"

"Hey, don't say that." Yakko smirked. "I'm sure there's _tens_ of people who unironically like Big Mouth."

Wakko laughed a little at that.

"Anyway," Yakko said, "I really don't want it to be that kinda show. And I don't wanna be that kinda character. And, you know, I'm...we just kinda be ourselves on camera. And if _I'm_ thinking about really upsetting stuff all the time, then everyone's gonna find out about that from the way I act."

Wakko hummed for a second, then nodded. "I think I get it. I don't know what to do about that, though."

"Don't worry about it," Yakko sighed. "If we had, like, an actual therapist, that'd probably help, huh?"

It still at least helped to vent to Wakko a little, but he didn't think he wanted to say that. He didn't want Wakko to feel responsible for him. Yakko was the big brother here, after all.

"You, uh..." Yakko swung an arm around him. "You wanna have a little sleepover while we're here?"

"Alright." Wakko yawned. "I don't feel like goin' back up anyway."

"Got it." Yakko smiled and patted his head. "Make sure to wake me up and let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"You too."

In seconds, Wakko was out like a light. Yakko envied him. At this point, he was convinced it was some secret superpower to fall asleep so quickly, or maybe Yakko had a really lame power that made him unable to sleep instantaneously.

It wasn't so bad when he had company, though. A nice, calming distraction from all his unwelcome feelings. At least while he was awake, Yakko could watch over his little brother and instead think about making him happy and safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies if this chapter is subpar. i havent really had the writing juice lately.
> 
> in case you're confused at all here's how things are in my animaniacs fanfics: (this applies to all of them, and they all share a continuity but not necessarily in any sort of chronological order)  
> \- most animaniacs episodes are acted in-universe. there are a good amount of exceptions, most of which include episodes that take place on the warner lot itself, in which the events of the episode are actually for real happening to the warners.  
> \- the 2020 reboot premiere was also acted. in reality, the warners are fully aware of what happened between 1998 and 2020. they just presented this as a silly scenario of having to catch up with the world's events  
> \- their episodes are unscripted, but they do have a general plotline to follow. they just play with it and improvise as the episode goes on (which means they will often break character while acting, usually to break the fourth wall)
> 
> i hope this makes sense! these are just my headcanons of course, hopefully i explained them properly


	11. Most Children Don't Have Dementia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakko wakes up very disoriented, which leads to him feeling very afraid.
> 
> (characters: wakko, dot)  
> 

Wakko couldn't register anything when he woke up.

He had no idea where he was, if it was morning or night, if he was even awake at all...it felt like there was a suspicious gap in his memory too. It didn't feel like he'd been sleeping. It felt more like...well, this was what Wakko always imagined it'd feel like to come out of hypnosis.

Had he been hypnotized? 

He noticed a faint voice speaking nearby, loud but quiet, close but distant. He couldn't really listen, even if he wanted to. He couldn't even tell if it was real or not.

He could open his eyes, but maybe they were already open.

Something suddenly struck him. Not a physical force, but a rush of sour air that misplaced whatever atmosphere he'd woken up in, like everything shifted a little out of order, and the gravity would contort him. After some moments passed, and more incoherent voices, it slowed to a stop, and his open eyes finally started to make out the silhouette beside him.

"Dot...?" He tried to call out, but the voice that cane was so soft and little. "Where are we...?"

Dot let out a big exhale before responding. "Water tower. Why were you on the kitchen floor? And why'd you keep ignoring me?"

"Huh...?"

"This isn't funny, Wakko!" Dot crossed her arms. "You really looked like you were dying or something! I was really scared!"

Was something serious going on? Wakko didn't know about anything like that. Of course, he didn't know much to begin with, anyway. He didn't know how long ago he'd gone to bed. He could see now he was on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed, on top of the messy blankets, with Dot standing next to it. 

"Uh, this isn't the kitchen...?" Wakko moved his head to face Dot, but he couldn't quite make eye contact.

"You really weren't...do you not remember?" Dot tilted her head. "It didn't look like you were sleeping. Your eyes were open, you don't sleep with your eyes open, do you?"

"I don't think so." Wakko figured he should ask some questions instead, since Dot clearly knew more. "What day is it? What year is it?"

Dot told him the date and time. Fortunately, no one was watching them discuss this right now, or else it'd be very awkward for the audience to have a disconnect between the current date in their reality and the current date in this situation.

In any case, it sounded sensible to Wakko. Unless he'd been having a coma dream for decades, he'd only gone to bed about five hours ago. But there was still something wrong. The more he adjusted to wakefulness, the more sure he was of that.

"I don't get what's going on."

He said stuff like that a lot, he knew that, and it always got on Dot's nerves, but she didn't seem that irritated this time. Instead, she softly replied, "I don't know either. I think maybe you sleepwalked to the kitchen and accidentally woke up before you were finished. Maybe. I saw you just lying around on the kitchen floor."

Wakko didn't remember being in the kitchen. He was pretty forgetful anyway, but if it was something that basically just happened, that was scary. Maybe he had dementia. After all, going by how many years he'd existed, he was technically in his nineties, so maybe he did age after all and ended up having something like dementia or Alzheimer's.

"I don't know," he murmured. "Shouldn't I remember that? What else am I gonna forget, am I gonna forget my name, am I gonna forget you?"

"Whoa, hang on!" Dot held her hands up. "It's okay, it's okay! I think you only don't remember 'cause you were still really sleepy. That's prob'ly why you didn't answer me, too." She leaned forward. "Are you sick? Do you have a fever?"

"I don't think so. I don't know." Maybe he hadn't been sleepwalking, maybe he was possessed by demons. "Are there demons in here?"

"No, we didn't summon any. And no one else on the lot knows how to summon demons." Dot placed a palm against Wakko's forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever. That's good, everything's fine."

"No it isn't." Wakko gently pushed her hand away. "What if this is just the beginning? What if I keep doing things I don't remember? What if I already forgot a bunch of things?"

Dot didn't answer right away. She lowered her hands, then tentatively asked, "Do you want a hug?"

"Okay."

With Wakko's permission, Dot climbed up onto the bed and crawled to sit beside Wakko and wrap her arms around him.

"What _do_ you remember?" Dot asked. "Maybe if you say all the basic important things you remember I can tell you if you're missing anything."

"Okay, um..." Wakko took a deep breath, trying to think of the most basic things he could say. "My name is Wakko Warner. I have a little sister named Dot and a big brother named Yakko. I'm eleven years old, but that's only because they made me that way, and we don't age because we're cartoon characters. We live in a water tower, on the Warner lot, in Burbank, in California, in America, on Earth. I'm a non-binary boy, my pronouns are he and him. I speak English. Um...oh, our show is called Animaniacs and it started airing in nineteen ninety-three...and our reboot started in twenty-twenty, but right now we're not being filmed 'cause it's nighttime." Wakko rocked a little bit, still with Dot's arms loosely around him. "Should I keep going?"

"Um...I don't think so. It's not like you have to remember literally everything." Dot smiled. "But you know your name and your family and what year it is, and all that stuff too, right? I think that means everything's okay."

Wakko sighed and returned the smile. "Okay. Thanks." He guessed Dot probably knew best anyway since she was smarter, but he wouldn't say that out loud. It would probably go to her head. "I wanna go back to sleep now."

"Yeah, me too. Good thing it's only two in the morning." Dot released Wakko and hopped off his bed. "You can come up to my bunk if you really need to. But I'll probably be asleep already."

"I think it's fine now." Wakko pulled his blankets over himself and waved a hand. "Good night, Dot."

"Night, Wakko."

Wakko closed his eyes as Dot ascended the ladder. One of Wakko's best qualities was that he fell asleep easily if his mind wasn't too preoccupied with worries, and thanks to Dot calming him, that wasn't an issue right now.

It only took minutes for him to fall asleep, but before he did, he thought of how grateful he was that he wouldn't forget his wonderful siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you ever like. wake up and are like "??? ???? ???????? What ?????"


	12. Don't You Miss Places?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quarantine wasn't so bad at first, but eventually Wakko gets overwhelmed by the circumstances.
> 
> (characters: wakko, yakko, dot)

The Warners had already experienced being locked in the water tower for sixty years, so being quarantined for a year really wasn't such a big deal.

They weren't totally confined from everything they liked. They could order games and toys and food if they needed it. They were lucky enough to have a steady income from being actors so they could afford that stuff. Even if they didn't, and couldn't, they were cartoons, so they didn't really need to eat.

They couldn't die from things like starvation, or coronavirus, or even boredom. They were effectively immortal, and they had everything they needed right here in the water tower, so being quarantined for a year really wasn't such a big deal.

So why wasn't everyone else doing it?

"Well, most of those people are weird self-absorbed freaks," Yakko had pointed out to Wakko. "They think helping a pandemic spread is expressing their freedom of speech, or something. So they're gonna be going to restaurants and parties and stuff and then _biiig surprise,_ they're testing positive."

"So why can't _we_ go anywhere?" Wakko had asked. "We can't even get the coronavirus."

"Just to be safe, just in case we spread the virus. It's totally not because they want an excuse to get us outta the way or anything."

Wakko wasn't always good at picking up sarcasm, but Yakko was certainly bitter enough about this for it to get through this time.

Even if they weren't trapped here, though, there really was nothing for them anymore. All the good places nearby were still locked down. Pretty much everyone who worked at the Warner lot was working from home now, so there was no one on the lot to play with. For a whole year it'd been so desolate and depressing like this, like the world had already ended and the Warners were the only living things left.

And Wakko really didn't need anyone besides his siblings. He really wasn't lonely or bored or scared or sad, but...somehow, he ended up crying.

Nighttime was the best time to cry for most people. It was dark, and they were alone, so no one would witness it. Wakko, though, slept in the same room as his siblings. If they hadn't fallen asleep on the lower two bunks of the bunk bed, they'd climb up here to investigate. Even in the dark, and even if he tried to be quiet, it was very obvious that he was crying.

None of them liked crying, even in front of each other. They could cry on cue for acting purposes, but otherwise, they barely cried around each other. They never had a real reason to cry. Sometimes they'd have nightmares or just get very frightened, but they weren't the type to cry out of fear. If they ever did cry, it was usually out of sorrow.

But Wakko wasn't that sad, really, was he?

Well, it felt like the world was ending. That was the best way to explain it. It felt like the world was ending and nothing would ever fix it. He missed being outside and talking to people and playing with people and going to fun places. But his siblings didn't, so _he_ wasn't supposed to, but how does someone just stop missing things?

Even his siblings wouldn't know how to answer that, but lucky for him (Wakko could be sarcastic, too, if he wanted) they were apparently awake enough to notice him, and it wasn't long at all before he heard them rushing up the ladder.

"What is it, Wakko?" Yakko was the first to ask, and he frantically pulled himself closer to Wakko and grabbed his shoulder. "Did something happen? Are you hurt?"

Yakko wasn't usually so outwardly frightened about him. It was probably because Wakko crying was a rare enough event for it to be extremely worrying. He shook his head, and hopefully that would help ease Yakko a little bit, but he had a whole other sibling to deal with.

"Is it a panic attack?" There wasn't really room for Dot to sit up next to Yakko, so she stayed behind him and held to his shoulders. "Is it 'cause of clowns?"

"It's not clowns." Wakko could keep his voice from completely breaking and choking up as long as he spoke quietly. "I don't know what it is. It's 'cause of quarantine, I don't know why."

Yakko covered his mouth and looked away for a moment. It looked like he was trying to take a couple of deep breaths, but it was hard to tell for sure. He turned back to Wakko with a small smile. "Well, no wonder, right? It's a, uh, pretty devastating scenario, especially with _this_ healthcare system."

Maybe Wakko was angry, then, that the country was failing. But this didn't feel like anger. It didn't feel like anything, it just felt like wanting to cry.

Dot let go of Yakko to cross her arms. "You'd think they'd actually do something about it after a year, huh? But no, we just gotta sit here and think about how we're basically living in an apocalypse and we can't do anything about it."

Yakko turned his head and quietly muttered, "Dot, I'm not sure that's helping."

Wakko wiped his eyes. "No, it's 'kay, she's right. That's exactly what it feels like."

Yakko hummed and pulled his legs closer to himself, giving Dot more space to approach Wakko.

"Are hugs okay?" Dot asked.

Wakko gave a thumbs up, so Dot threw her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her back as he looked up at Yakko. "I didn't mean to cry. It's not like we weren't already locked up for sixty years."

"Yeah, it isn't." Yakko scratched his neck. "But this still sucks."

Dot nodded. "It's not unreasonable." She released Wakko and backed away a little. "We can't say, oh, this isn't that bad compared to _that,_ 'cause you could say that about _anything._ No one says, oh, you only murdered two people, that's not bad compared to the guy who killed twenty."

Fortunately, Dot's brothers were much more used to her slightly unsettling analogies than the camera people ever were.

Wakko sniffled, and rubbed his eyes. "I guess that's true. I guess people can cry about this. But...I still miss places."

"I know," Yakko sighed. "But, listen, his sounds hard to believe, but it really is gonna get better eventually. That's the other thing, about us already being locked up here before. It got better before, it'll get better again. And we'll live to see it get better."

Dot smiled. "Isn't being ageless and immortal just peachy keen?"

Wakko tried to smile back, and from the way they beamed at him in response, it was probably a good enough smile. Wakko's eyes were almost totally dry by now, too.

"Well, I'm going back to bed, then," Yakko announced. He waved at Wakko. "Don't forget, you can let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Or if you wanna cry again," Dot added, crawling back to the ladder. "Maybe I can cry with you in solidarity."

Wakko waved goodbye to them. "I think I'm good now. Thanks, guys."

"Any time," said Dot, as she started descending the ladder.

"Good night!" Yakko said before leaping over the railing of the bunk.

Realistically, it wasn't much better, but it could be worse. At least Wakko still had ways to have fun and be happy, at least he wasn't alone, at least he would live to see life become happier again.

He couldn't do anything to help that happen, but with his siblings here, he could be patient for it.

As he decided to go back to sleep, before drifting off, he briefly wondered what board games they should play the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i cry from my anxiety i'm like wow i sure am feeling like wakko warner from the animaniacs series right now. by which i mean i feel like a BABY!!!!


End file.
